A while ago, one of the contra links that I recommended to you folks was South Carolina contra dancer Elyse Marder's documentary on the folk dance scenes Stateside and across the pond in England. (If we're going to go mixing the tradition with other things, it's helpful to know what exactly it is we're mixing with those other things...and it's also helpful to remember that what actually comprises "tradition" may not be as set-in-stone as it may originally appear and may be subject to the whims of the historians whose records survive to the present day.) I think Elyse created something very cool, and I'm very pleased that she posted the final product on YouTube. Enjoy!

(It is highly likely that I will have further comments later in the coming year -- there are lots of things here that seem like excellent blog inspiration.) Happy 2013 to all!

This week's flourish is one we picked up from another Glen Echo dancer and was pointed out to us by Kevin Mabon from one of the videos he takes of the Glen Echo dances. It's a neat transition for those dances that call for a swing and then a promenade.

The two things to be careful of are 1) keep your footprint small and when you pull the follow by, be sure to step in the other direction; and 2) make sure you don't trap your follow's hand under your elbow when (s)he's going behind your back.

Dancers are Steven Roth & Ryan Holman.

Special thanks to Ryan's parents for lending us their foyer...(yes, that is Ryan's Christmas stocking in the lower right of the shot).

The end of 2012 is nigh! If your resolution for next year is to call for a techno contra event, here are some things you should know, as compiled by me from the various interviews with callers to date over the last 20 months or so:

1. If possible, consult with the DJ beforehand -- preferably to be able to match rough tracks to dances, but at the very least to get an idea of the presence (or absence) of traditional phrasing, tempo, etc.

2. Be aware that traditional phrasing may or may not be present; this puts more onus onto the caller to guide the dancers if needed. The caller has to be sure to pay close attention to the music, especially if it's not familiar.

3. Pick simpler dances: they tend to work better than ones with really complex moves in techno contra.

4. Find out if there will be black lights, strobe lights, or other lighting effects. These may affect how well you can "track" dancers from your vantage point. You will probably need to keep more of an eye on the dancers than you might at a traditional contra to keep the room together.

5. As a corollary to #4, be especially aware of crowding and other issues that may come up and pick dances accordingly; doing a dance with down-the-halls in a really crowded room gets really problematic at the bottom of the hall and you might not be able to see it as well as you would in a well-lit venue for traditional contra.See something I missed? Sound off!

(This list will eventually be made into a PDF and made available for download on the Resources page. However, I wanted to open it up to comment first.)

This week's flourish is a way to transition from a circle into a high ceilidh swing. The flourish is fairly simple -- passing your partner's hand behind your back and then pulling up into a swing, using the momentum of the circle moving -- but rather elegant when done well and can be done with limited space involved.

Dancers, as usual, are Ryan Holman & Steven Roth.

You, too, can have your flourishes featured! Drop us a line!

To those of you celebrating with family and friends in the next couple of weeks, happy holidays! To everybody (including the holiday-celebrants), we wish you light, luck and love in the new year! We'll be back on Wednesday with more syncretistic goodness (for real this time -- I'm telecommuting all next week and hopefully I will be over whatever miserable flu-like thing I appear to have caught this week...)!

The last installment of Washington, DC’s Contra Sonic series is on Thursday, December 20, with a “Dark Side of the Earth” theme. It started as a monthly series in November of 2010 and was the source of several of my caller interviews and the home techno contra of dJ improper.

Some folks will say that the series failed, because it’s needed to evolve into a more sporadic, event-based format to be profitable for those involved.

When Steve and I headed to dance to Perpetual e-Motion on Sunday night at Glen Echo, we decided we might do the initial forays into an experiment. Several weeks ago, one of my more vigorous partners (read: that guy who twirls the snot out of me every single time) made a comment about how he was tired, but "you're the one doing most of the work anyway."

Which got me (as someone who typically dances the follow's part) thinking: does the follow actually exert themselves more in a typical dance? There are people who object to my use of "lead" and "follow" on this blog because they believe it to be an entirely equal dance form for which those labels are (or should be) meaningless. Meanwhile, in a ladies' chain (which is so much more common than a men's chain that even a decent chunk of experienced dancers don't know how to pull a men's chain off smoothly, at least around these parts), someone dancing the lady's role and dancing without flourishes crosses the set and takes at least four medium-to-large steps around the outside of a circle, whereas someone dancing the gent's role will take maybe four small steps backwards to help the lady around the courtesy turn.

This is a flourish borrowed from morris dance and that comes in really handy when the floor is crowded...just be aware that this flourish puts you into your swinging partner's personal space, which is fine as long as they consent (and partner consent is really important).

I was surfing the web recently and came across Charlie Seelig’s ContraDanceLinks.com list of essays on topics related to contra. One in particular jumped out at me, an article by Pamela Goddard from 2002 entitled “Finding the Groove.” In this article, she talked to two bands, Big Table and the Groovemongers, about how they chose their music (which has several influences, among them French-Canadian, southern American, Irish, Latin, and Mideastern, and how they matched it to their cohesive band identities.

In particular, these quotes from the bands’ members caught my eye:

“We had to throw out preconceived notions.... We literally took everything apart. It made the group think about musical influences and what we do.”

Another band member continued, “From the start we definitely wanted percussion,...and so added a non-contra groove.”

The last quote in particular resonated with me in the context of the Contra Syncretist project, as I’ve heard several techno contra DJs speak in similar terms:

Eileen Thorsos: “I look for Celtic fusion music that I like (hopefully LOVE), that I want to dance to, and that is upbeat with a rich and interesting sound.... I particularly like hot bagpipes,...strong bass, and intriguing driving rhythm.... I prefer sets that have dynamic transitions within them, because I think those moments fuel the dance....So far my focus has been exclusively on Celtic fusion music. That’s really the genre that I know and love, and I think my enthusiasm for the music -- and my seemingly accurate sense of music that other contra dancers get excited about -- has helped in the success of electrotrad contra. Also I hope for my music to be accessible to all sorts of contra dancers, and I think keeping melodies and instrumentation that are familiar helps with that.”

DJ Solar Sound: one of the great parts of spinning a techno contra is “the connection I have with the audience and my ability to spread what I love while fusing two of my passions. It’s just so fulfilling to nail a transition from my favorite track of last year into a new song that I finished only a few days prior, and to see the dancers just loving it.”

DJ Nu B: “The most important thing is the selection [of music] having the right emotional quality for the dance floor at that particular time. Music should be dynamic, especially when DJing, so I always pick my selections live while performing...the most important thing is the track being fresh -- can it make people move whether they like it or not? Those are the tracks I live for.”

This convinces me further that the argument over bands versus DJs (and some techno contra event planners saying they’ll only hire the former, never the latter) comes down more to an aesthetic argument than anything else. As Penelope Weinberger pointed out in reference to dJ improper in the interview I posted a few weeks ago, “it looks like he’s just up there pushing a button, but he does as much work as musicians do before the dance...you know, obviously musicians get together and they practice, and [the DJ] will put so much work into it before the three hours of the dance...it’s a huge amount of work. And I think some people understand that, but a lot of people don’t. I mean I think a lot of dancers don’t understand how much work it is to be a musician, either. He’s not an iPod.”

There can be interaction between the DJ, the caller, and the dancers like there can be between the band, the caller, and the dancers. While the connection might be catering to a different aesthetic, I’m not entirely sure that the character of the connection itself is as different as some would like us to believe. (And while there is nothing wrong with it being an aesthetic difference, I really wish people would admit that, when it applies.)

Perhaps this becomes a case of the more things change, the more they stay the same, in some ways? I’m interested to hear what you all think....

This flourish originated in a video from the Scout House that was indicated by our friend Kevin Mabon. The trick here is that the lead puts him- (or her-) self into the chicken wing and thus controls the position (just like anyone whose hand is behind their back).

The stores all have lights up (as do several people at my day job), the radio is playing songs that sing about snow and presents and goodwill toward men...it must be the holiday season. This also means that several radio stations (including the ones around here) are engaging in a bit of holiday musical syncretism. Among my personal favorites are versions of carols arranged by the Trans-Siberian Orchestra (I don’t think that the composers of the “Shchedryk” tune, which later became the more familiar “Carol of the Bells” in English, originally had an electric guitar or a synth in mind back in its origins as a folk chant...) and others that are given a twist to match the radio station’s chosen aesthetic.

To get us in a holiday mood -- what are some of your favorite instances of musical holiday syncretism, dear readers? (Links to online recordings/YouTube videos of same are encouraged!)

This project has concluded as of mid-2013 (with an epilogue posted mid-2016) but we hope to see you soon on a contra dance floor! Meanwhile, head over to our Facebook page for upcoming techno contra events and other items of interest.

Author

I dance with abandon. I play with glowsticks. I look for music that is conducive to one or both. I play behind cameras. I write about all of the above. I'm based in Glen Echo's contra dance community outside of Washington, D.C., but I'm happy to go dance afield when I can. Lather, rinse, repeat. Always repeat.